Daily Inspiration: Meet Katrina Hart

Today we’d like to introduce you to Katrina Hart.

Hi Katrina, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?
Before The Itsy Bitsy Veggie Co. started, I was a hobby gardener and my son Elijah loved being outside helping me in the garden. When the winter months came around, we really missed watching everything grow, all of the colors, and probably most of all, the fresh food. Somewhere along the way we stumbled across microgreens and decided to give them a try.

We started experimenting with a few trays in our basement, trying different varieties and learning as we went. We quickly fell in love with them. Microgreens gave us a way to grow fresh food year-round, even in the middle of an Ohio winter, and now they are just a normal part of our everyday life. We eat them constantly, grow a huge variety, and one of my favorite parts of what I do is getting to share them with our community and introduce them to people who may have never tried them before.

That experimenting eventually grew into The Itsy Bitsy Veggie Co. in 2023. We are still growing right from our home in Willowick in a designated indoor grow space that is only about 10×14 feet. I’m really proud of how much we’ve been able to do with such a small space. What started with a few trays has turned into a working indoor farm supplying our family, local customers, restaurants and retail partners.

A lot has happened since VoyageOhio first shared our story in 2025. We’ve continued building relationships with local chefs and restaurants, creating custom blends for their dishes and finding new ways to show people how versatile microgreens can be. We’ve hosted classes, participated in tasting events and chef collaborations, expanded our retail presence, and became approved to accept SFMNP and WIC FMNP benefits.

We’ve also had the opportunity to be featured on New Day Cleveland three times now. Our first appearance was an opportunity to introduce viewers to our microgreens and what we do. The second was extra special because Elijah joined me to show off his pet grass and grow kits. Considering this all started with the two of us missing our garden and wanting to grow something together during the winter, that was a pretty cool full-circle moment for us. Most recently, I was invited back to share a little more about our business and some of the local events we had coming up.

It really is a family-operated business, too. My husband helps me plant, my mom or dad will typically come along and help me at markets, and the kiddos love tagging along for deliveries and helping with our donations to local animal shelters. Everyone has found their own little way to be involved.

There has been plenty of trial and error along the way, and I’m still learning all the time. I don’t think I ever imagined everything that would come from those first few trays in our basement. What started because we simply missed our garden during the winter has grown into something that is now a huge part of our family’s everyday life. I love what we grow, I love that my family is part of it, and most of all, I love being able to share it with our community.

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I definitely wouldn’t say it has been a completely smooth road, but I also think that’s part of owning a small business. There is always something new to figure out, and a lot of what I know today has come from trial and error.

One of the biggest challenges has been learning how to grow the business at the right pace. Microgreens have a relatively short shelf life, so I can’t just grow extra product and put it on a shelf for the next few weeks. I’m constantly planning ahead for our restaurants, retail locations, markets and events, customer orders, and what our family will use. Then I have to decide how much to plant before I actually know exactly what the demand will be. Sometimes I get it just right, and sometimes I end up with a lot of greens that need homes!

Space has also been an ongoing challenge. We are producing everything from a roughly 10×14 foot grow space, so as the business has grown, I’ve had to get creative about how we use every inch of it. I’ve rearranged things more times than I can count, changed processes, added equipment, and continued finding ways to become more efficient without sacrificing the quality of what we grow.

Finding a good balance has been another learning experience. Itsy Bitsy isn’t my only job or my only passion. I’m a wife, mom, homeschool teacher, graphic and web designer, marketer, and business owner, so my days are usually pretty full. I actually enjoy wearing all of those different hats, but it has taught me to be intentional with my time and recognize where I can make things more efficient.

One of those changes was recently hiring my neighbor, Rob, part-time to help wash and sanitize our grow trays. It might seem like a small task, but when you’re growing dozens of trays each week, it adds up quickly. Having her help has made our weekly routine more efficient and allows me to put that time toward other parts of the business and my family.

Of course, growing itself will always keep you on your toes. Equipment breaks, crops don’t always grow the way you expect, plans change, events get rained out, and sometimes you just have to figure things out as you go. We’ve dealt with power outages, crops that didn’t turn out the way I hoped, and plenty of situations where I’ve had to adjust the plan.

I think those challenges are also part of what I enjoy about what I do. I’m always learning, experimenting and looking for a better way to do something. I’ve learned to adapt, to not be afraid to change something when it isn’t working, and that growing a business doesn’t mean you have to do every single part of it yourself. I’m definitely still learning as we grow, but I think that’s part of the fun of it.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
At the heart of it, we grow microgreens! The Itsy Bitsy Veggie Co. is a small indoor farm specializing in a pretty large variety of fresh microgreens grown year-round. We grow familiar varieties like broccoli, radish, sunflower and pea, but also some unexpected ones like cantaloupe, corn, amaranth, leeks, carrots, basil and other micro herbs. I love introducing people to something they may have never even known could be grown or eaten as a microgreen.

Freshness and quality are really important to me. Everything is grown indoors without pesticides or chemicals and harvested as close to delivery, pickup or market day as possible. We’ve also become known for our blends, and I love experimenting with different flavors, colors and textures. One of my favorite parts of the business is working directly with local chefs to create custom blends based on the dishes they’re preparing.

Education has become a big part of what we do, too. At markets, we bring live trays whenever we can so people can see the greens growing, sample different varieties and learn how to use them. We’ve also hosted grow classes, tastings and chef collaborations. I love when someone tells me they’ve never tried microgreens and leaves excited about adding them to their next meal.

I think what sets us apart is how personal everything still is. I know many of our customers by name, work directly with our chefs and retail partners, and genuinely listen when someone has a request or an idea for something they’d like us to grow. Some of the things we offer today started simply because someone asked if I could grow them and I thought, “Let’s try it!”

What I’m most proud of is what has grown around the business. It’s given our family something to build together, allowed us to form some really great relationships within our community, support other local businesses, and give back to local animal shelters. We may have grown quite a bit since those first few trays in our basement, but I never want to lose that personal connection. I don’t necessarily want Itsy Bitsy to be the biggest microgreen farm. I want to continue growing in a way that allows us to provide a great product, try new things, and stay connected to the people and community we’re growing for.

Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
I don’t really have a go-to list of business books or podcasts. A lot of what I learn comes from the people around me and whatever I’m working on at the time. Conversations with chefs, customers, other farmers and small business owners have been incredibly valuable, and if something sparks my interest, I’ll usually go home and research it.

Canva is probably the app I use the most. With my background in graphic and web design and marketing, I use it almost daily for everything from social media and signage to labels and event materials.

More than anything, I think being curious and willing to try new things has been one of my best resources. Some of my favorite ideas have started with a simple conversation or someone asking, “Can you grow this?”

Contact Info:

• Website: https://ItsyBitsyVeggieCo.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/TheItsyBitsyVeggieCo
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheItsyBitsyVeggieCo